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Read. Follow. Verify.Texas HB 2045 requires automatic expunction of arrest records within 30 days of acquittal
Last action · March 14, 2025: Referred to Criminal JurisprudenceSponsor: Aicha Davis
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What This Bill Proposed
Relating to automatic expunction of arrest records and files for certain persons who are tried for an offense and subsequently acquitted.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Acquitted persons
Individuals acquitted of an offense receive automatic expunction of their arrest records and files without needing to file a formal request.
Trial courts
Judges and court clerks must issue automatic expunction orders within 30 days of an acquittal or forward petitions to a district court.
Attorneys representing the state
State attorneys must prepare expunction orders when an acquitted person is unrepresented by counsel.
Key Facts
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
3 actions- Mar 14, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to Criminal Jurisprudence
- Mar 14, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time
- Jan 23, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift from Petition-Based to Automatic Expunction
The legislation removes the historical requirement for an acquitted person or state prosecutor to actively request an expunction order, making it an automatic duty of the court.
Connected Entities
Sources
capitol.texas.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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